Cats were known in ancient Egypt as "Mau", and they held an important place in ancient Egyptian society. Based on recent DNA comparisons of the species, it is estimated that cats first domesticated about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. After thousands of years, the religion of the ancient Egyptian people became related to animals, among them cats.
Because of its insect control and its ability to kill snakes such as cobras, the domesticated cat has become a symbol of grace and poise. Then, with the passage of time, it became her deity, representing protection, fertility and motherhood.
As an important sacred animal in Egyptian society and religion, some cats received the same embalming after death as humans. In 1888, an Egyptian peasant discovered a large tomb containing about eighty thousand mummified cats, near the town of Bani Hassan, believed to have mummified after 1000 BC.
Its history
Mafdat was the first known goddess with a cat's head in ancient Egypt. During the reign of the First Egyptian Dynasty between 2920-2770 BC, it was considered a protector of the pharaoh's chambers against snakes, scorpions, and evils. She was also often depicted with the head of a tiger (Panthera Bardus). It was especially prominent during the reign of Pharaoh Dunn.
Bastet deities have been known since the reign of the Second Egyptian Dynasty from at least 2890 BC onwards. She was at that time pictured with the head of a lion (Panthera Liu). Seals and stone vessels bearing her name were found in the tombs of Pharaoh Khafre and Pharaoh Ni User Ra, indicating that it was considered a garrison since the mid-thirtieth century BC, during the rule of the fourth and fifth Egyptian dynasty. A mural in the land of the tomb of the Fifth Egyptian Dynasty at Saqqara shows a small cat with a collar, suggesting that tame African cats were kept in Pharaonic dwellings since the 26th century BC.
Amulets with cat heads came into fashion in the 21st century BC, during the reign of the eleventh Egyptian dynasty. A mural from this period is found in Paquette's Tomb III, which depicts a cat in a hunting scene facing a rat-like rodent.
In the funerary city of Umm al-Jaab, there is a tomb containing 17 skeletons of cats, dating back to the beginning of the twentieth century BC. Beside these skeletons are small utensils, which are believed to have contained milk for cats. Several frescoes on the graves in the Theban Funerary City show cats with domesticated scenes. These tombs belonged to nobles and high officials during the reign of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, and were built in the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries BC. The murals show a cat sitting under a chair in a canteen, eating meat and fish; In some others, they are accompanied by a goose or a monkey. Scenes of cats being hunted are also a recurring motif in the mural paintings of the Theban cemetery.
The first known indication of cat mummification was found in an elaborately carved limestone sarcophagus dating back to 1350 BC. It is assumed that this cat was the spoiled cat of Prince Thutmose.
The popularity of the gods Bastet and her temple in the city of Tell Basta increased in popularity since the reign of the Twenty-Second Egyptian Dynasty, in the mid-1950s of the 9th century BC. Currently, it only appears with the head of a kitten. Domestic cats (Felice cats) were increasingly worshipped and considered sacred. When she was dying, she was mummified, shrouded, and buried in cat cemeteries. The domesticated cats were considered a living embodiment of Bastet, who protected the house from the grain-eater, while the god Sekhmet, who had a lion's head, was worshipped as the pharaoh's protector. During the reign of Pharaoh Osorkon II in the 9th century BC, the Temple of Bastet was expanded with a ballroom. There are cat statues and small statues dating back to this period, in a variety of sizes and materials, including hollow-cast bronze, steel, alabaster and porcelain.
